Wilson, S. (2013) Digital Literacies Peacock. [Photograph]. Flicker. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52926035@N00/8506818215
I enjoyed reading the Module 5 material on literacy. That list of different types of literacies seems ever growing! I stumbled upon one more (not on the list), that of “global literacy”. I found it in a thesis paper, with the title of “The Qualities that Inform Global Literacy Teaching in the U.S.” (Olabisi, 2020). Within it, Olabisi cites a definition from Reimers et al. “global literacy is the information and skills a person needs to successfully function in a globalized context”. I’m presuming this would have elements of international mindedness/intercultural awareness, global citizenship etc.
In the above context, it would seem that the word ‘literacy’ refers to a descriptor – in terms of competency. I don’t think the use of the word ‘literacy’ in this way means a dilution of the term. I think it adds depth and richness to the more traditional meaning of literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing). However, it is really important that we use ‘literacy’ as it befits our context and purpose, so we need to be more intentional, more nuanced when using the word. This seems like a simple point, but the more I think about it, the more important it becomes. Maybe we should start challenging each other when we hear the word ‘literacy’ used in an ill defined manner. For example,
- What does the assistant principal mean when she says literacy rates have flattened when looking at the latest round of Grade 7 MAP scores?
- What goals, skills and concepts is another teacher referring to when he says that he wants to create a new “visual literacy” unit for Individuals & Societies?
- When collaborating with the English teacher on an interdisciplinary unit, what do we mean we want to assess “critical literacy”?
On another note, I am concerned with the pervasive idea that students are so comfortable with technology, that therefore they must know how to use it. Yes, they use it very well in social networking and gaming (I see my son gaming online with friends, two computer screens plus one phone propped up so he doesn’t “miss anything!”) When it comes to research skills, it is a completely different matter and I seem to see the same patterns year after year with the next group of students. I totally resonated with Coombes’ (2009) article in which she outlined the popular perception that just because our students are ‘tech-savvy’ doesn’t necessarily mean a correlation between being comfortable with the internet and exhibiting strong information finding skills. I’d like to extend these thoughts in my next post, once I have read about information literacy and the various models we can use.
References
Coombes, B. (2009) Generation Y: Are they really digital natives or more like digital refugees? Synergy, 7(1), 31-40.
Olabisi, J.E. (2020). The Qualities that Inform Global Literacy Teaching in the U.S. [Dissertation, University of Phoenix]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.